Greez wasn't often one to try and barge into other people's business. He prided himself on that fact. Now, other people might disagree, but he just wanted to keep to his beloved ship, flying to wherever his heart, or Cere's plans, wanted to take him. Of course, it became hard when other people's business find their way onto his ship. Like the bogling he discovered was eating all his food. He blamed Cal for that one. The damn kid just couldn't keep the little thing on Bogano. Another thing he blamed Cal for was the awkward tension between him and their resident doctor.
The Latero man had seen who he thought to be the most stubborn people in his life on multiple different planets throughout his travels. Never did he think he would have to witness such stubborn nature in his own precious Mantis. Y/n and Cal were filling the cockpit with a strange, and rather weird, atmosphere of unease. Now, Greez knew it wasn't the normal kind of unease that you got when you didn't like someone on board. He had seen that type too much for this thick atmosphere to resemble anything like that. Hell, he had been at the center of it once, for some reason. This certain type of tension was what you got when you liked someone too much on board a ship.
Greez was going to kick whichever one of them was responsible for it in the butt.
It was almost suffocating, watching the little googly eyes Cal made from behind Y/n's co-pilot seat, or the cough made out to be discomfort Y/n made whenever Cal reached over to see what she was looking at. Neither of them could see it in themselves, or each other for that matter, but Greez was a master of infatuation. Latero girls chased him day and night back on Lateron when he was in the flying academy (being a pilot raised his chances by a lot). He could tell that one of them, or both of them, was trying to hide the fact that there's a new feeling in the air around them.
It was starting to make him sick.
"Cal, sit down. We're landing," Greez barked to the boy Jedi, who raised his head from the scanners in surprise and sat behind the pilot's seat. Greez shook his head in disbelief, grumbling, "Humans are all so unbearably thick."
Y/n, hearing his words, gave him a look of confusion before shaking her head in dismissal and turning back to her own seat. Soon enough, Greez took the Mantis out of hyperspace and they carefully approached the familiar planet. Greez hid the ship well, landing on the same platform as before to assure Cal knew where he was and to keep their ship out of the eyes of the Empire occupying the planet.
Y/n stood from her seat, walking past Cal as she approached the door of the ship and clicking it open. Letting out a breath, she looked to her side to see Cal standing beside her. She noticed he had been on edge since she found him earlier that day, awake from his slumber. He seemed shaken from something, but she wasn't sure what could possibly have made him so jittery near her.
"Hey," she said, lightly tapping his arm with the back of her hand. The touch made him blink back to reality, looking her in the eyes. "Are you okay?"
She saw a moment's hesitation. "Yeah. I'm great," he answered with a quick nod. Turning, he left the ship quickly, looking back to say, "Come on. No time to lose."
Y/n could easily see the lie in Cal's eye. Mainly because he avoided looking into hers. Walking down the ramp, she continued. "Are you sure? 'Cause you've been on edge since you woke up earlier today."
"Y/n, it's nothing. It was... just a bad dream. That's all," Cal told her, walking across the landing pad to open the door they had unlocked the visit before. "I allowed it to shake me more than I should." Y/n looked him over, waiting for a further response. When he gave none, she sighed and started ahead, taking out her blaster to prepare for any stormtroopers.
Cal blew through his lips in relief. BD gave a little shake of his head, saying, Beep bwoop brr whir.
Cal shushed him quietly, waving his hand in a gentle 'don't' manner, and said, "We'll talk about it later, BD. I don't want to freak her out, alright?" He had ended up telling the droid what he saw after BD-1 would not leave him alone about it. There were only so many beeps and trills a guy could take before he caved.
Frr bweep boop trill? BD asked.
"Because it's kind of weird to say 'hey, I accidentally saw one of your memories of your father in my dreams, but I know you don't talk about him, so I'm not gonna ask, just wanted to let you know'. People don't just admit something like that, especially when she hasn't even told me about her father yet," Cal explained, his eyes up and making sure Y/n was not listening as she scouted ahead of them. "The weirdest part is I didn't even touch something of hers to see it. It just... happened."
Brrrrr bweep bo-bop!
"It's a little less interesting when it's happening to you, BD," Cal grumbled, starting to jog to catch up with Y/n so BD couldn't ask any more uncomfortable questions.
Y/n noticed his rushed appearance, asking, "What were you two talking about?"
"We were just figuring out the best way to go."
Bwoop trill whir bo-boop.
Cal and BD exchanged glances at one another, while Y/n raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Well, we were planning our attack on top of deciding which way to go," Cal fixed with minute struggle. BD let out what could only be described as a sigh.
"Okay?" Y/n responded with a bewildered laugh. Shaking her head, she nodded towards the abandoned village and said, "Looks like they've retaken their residence here."
"We should probably do something about that," Cal spoke with a smirk, lightly elbowing her in the side. "Come on. Highest count gets co-pilot's chair on the ride to Taanab?"
Y/n scoffed as he ran forward, taking out the first, and second, troopers right on the edge of the village. "Well, that's not fair. You're a Jedi! Why should you get the head start?" she complained, taking her electrobaton off her back.
Holding up two fingers, he ignored her banter by saying, "Two already."
Y/n ran towards the village, muttering as she ran past him, "I'll have no redhead out-scoring me."
She heard the sounds of stormtroopers shouting, blaster bolts, and Cal's lightsaber before his voice called out from behind a house saying, "Four!"
Taking her blaster, she ran to the edge of a building and fired off her bolts at troopers stationed on the roofs. Within a few seconds, she brought down six stormtroopers to the ground, and a brave Scout Trooper that had engaged in baton-to-baton combat. "I'm on seven!" she yelled towards him, and once again heard the sound of a stormtrooper's armor against the saber.
Cal ran around the corner of a building, shaking his head at her as he said, "Nine. You've got to up your game."
"It's a little hard when I don't exactly have your skills," Y/n spoke back with irk in her voice. She saw an approaching trooper from behind Cal and before he knew what was happening, she shot the trooper right by his ear. "Eight. I'm catching up, Jedi," she gestured her blaster in his face.
"You still won't beat me, Doc," Cal responded, pushing away a Scout Trooper and bringing down his lightsaber into their chest as Y/n shot two more down from their perks. Unfortunately, they were the last two on the rooftops.
"Tied at ten, it seems," Y/n observed, looking around to see the village bare of stormtroopers. Cal grimaced as he followed her up the sides of the buildings. Seeing as he regained a few abilities from the Force in the past few planets, it made it easier to get the two of them up to the top buildings, finally spotting one last stormtrooper to remove from the village. Before Cal could blink, Y/n shot the man from his peak. He gaped at her jokingly as she bowed and said, "And I do believe the co-pilot's seat is mine, Jedi Kestis."
"You fight dirty, Doctor Novar," Cal spoke with a shake of his head, following her down the path.
"I'm not 'Doctor Novar'. That is my mother," Y/n corrected him with a wince. "I'm just Doc Y/n."
Cal nodded his head, feeling slightly off by the words. It only reminded him of what he saw. "Understood, 'Doc Y/n'."
The two of them continued through an easier path to reach the giant Zeffo statue, but still running into plenty of stormtroopers along the way. The Empire seemed to have fortified the planet even more than they did before, just in case a certain meddling Jedi were to turn up to pause their progress.
At one point, they had found their way into an Imperial base. Unfortunately, it was the only way for them to get to the tomb that the Empire had discovered. As soon as they opened the door with BD-1's scomp link, the stormtroopers inside noticed their presence. Y/n had to hide behind Cal and shuffle herself behind boxes to avoid getting hit while the Jedi blocked their bolts. Finally, Y/n managed to get herself in front of one of the troopers, taking him out with ease before turning to another across the room. Just as she was about to charge him, he raised his gun and shouted, "You'll die just like your father, Novar!!"
The words made her pause her movements, freezing in the middle of the battle. Cal noticed her sudden stillness, jumping in front of her to block the blaster bolt from the stormtrooper and deflect it back at him before it hit her. Just like that, the two of them were alone.
Cal turned off his lightsaber, sticking it to his belt as he turned and held her shoulders in worry, saying, "Y/n, are you alright?" He noticed her hands went to play with the ring on her finger. Seeing no other way to bring her back to him, he took her hands in his own. She seemed to snap out of her delirium, meeting the warm greens of Cal's eyes. "Hey, stay with me. What happened?"
Y/n opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. Gulping down her sorrow, she found her voice deep in her gut and said, "It's nothing. I just... got caught off guard."
Walls were being built between them. Cal could feel it. But it still couldn't hide the fact that he could almost feel the heartbreak she had in her soul. He heard what the stormtrooper had said. It was clear to him now there was a reason Y/n hasn't spoken of her father yet. Because he was dead, and it was the Empire's fault.
Cal gently put an arm over her shoulders to lead her away from the control room and towards the next portion of their map. Clearing his throat and dropping his arm, he said, "You know, I didn't tell you how Prauf... saved me." His words made her look up in surprise.
"Oh, Cal, you don't need to-"
"You've shared more of your history with me than I should have the honor of knowing," Cal cut her off, and she went to shake her head. He put up a hand to quietly silence her. "It's only fair."
Y/n let out a sigh, saying, "I just don't want you feeling obligated to tell me."
"I don't. Really," he assured her, and let out a sigh. "I told you about how Prauf was pretty much my only friend on Bracca. When I first started there, it was right after the Purge. I was a thirteen year old kid who had just watched his entire life be brought down by one man, I didn't know anything about being a scrapper. But Prauf, he... took me in. Helped me when I asked for it, never complained once. Even when I had to ask the same question three times just to understand the concept." Y/n smiled gently at his words. "I grew up beside him, and he taught me everything I know today."
"He really sounds like he was an incredible person. I wish I could've known him," Y/n said, and Cal nodded his head.
"Yeah, he would've liked you a lot," Cal told her, grinning when he saw her look down to hide her reddened face. It fell as he thought on. "Well, the day you came to get me from Bracca, Prauf and I were working on hauler clamps on the wing of a Republic starship. We didn't realize that the wires holding the wing up were coming loose until it was too late. I managed to catch the edge of the ship to hold, but Prauf slipped. When I watched him fall I just..." Cal paused, closing his eyes a moment before looking back at the girl. "I couldn't let him die like that. So I... used the Force for the first time in five years. It saved him, but... it also sentenced him. I still can't believe I didn't see the probe droid right there..."
Y/n noticed Cal was beginning to struggle with his words. "We were on a train riding back to our lodging. I was planning on packing up and rushing out of Bracca as fast as I could before someone caught me, but... the Empire caught up to me before we could even make it back to our homes." Cal had to stop walking, turning to her to finish. "The troopers lined up everyone on the train, and all I could think of in that moment when I first saw the Second Sister was, 'this is it. They're finally going to get me'. Until... Prauf started speaking. He stood up to the Second Sister, going on about the Empire's failures to the common man and the people it promised to serve." A tear fell from Cal's eye as he locked his gaze with Y/n's. "I watched helpless as the Second Sister drove her lightsaber through his chest.
"I keep thinking back to that moment. If I just fought back a little sooner, he would still be alive. If I gave myself up, he would still be alive," Cal began ranting, causing Y/n to put a hand onto his to stop him.
"And you'd be an Inquisitor right now, Cal," she stopped his ramblings, squeezing his hand gently. "Prauf was a good man who knew exactly what he was doing when he spoke for the common people. Don't blame yourself for his choice. Prauf is a hero."
The boy sniffed, taking his hand from hers but allowing a smile to grace his lips. "Yeah, he really is," Cal agreed, his voice however meek and timid. Y/n knew they couldn't delay any longer. The heart-to-heart moment ended as soon as they stepped outside, walking on to the next part of their journey on Zeffo.
After a long and grueling walk through the Empire's labyrinthian base, the two of them finally came to a large crash site for a Venator Star Destroyer. "Whoa," Y/n let out, gaping at the sight. "This has to be from the Clone Wars. It's probably only five or six years old."
"Yeah..." Cal breathed, his eyes gazing over the sight. "I was always afraid of these Destroyers as a child."
"I guess it's time to conquer old fears. Right, BD?" Y/n said, looking to the droid, who buzzed in approval and showed their destination ahead. They jumped into the old water, swimming for the shore before climbing, and grappling, up to the thrusters of the wreckage.
An unfamiliar noise nearby made them pause. Just as they were going to pass a narrow pole, a bolt whizzed past Y/n's ear. Unhooking her blaster, she fired at the offender, only to see that it was an Imperial Probe droid. "Probe droids. They're watching us," Cal stated as he watched the droid drop from Y/n's hit.
Entering through the thruster of the ship, they traveled deeper and deeper into the wreck. More and more, Y/n was noticing Cal was on edge with the environment around him. The giant ship was bringing him back to his time as a Padawan and a Youngling, when the Clone Wars was deep in battle. Right before his entire life fell apart.
Entering an old lift, which Y/n was surprised still even worked, she looked over to Cal and asked, "Hey, are you good here? Cause I know this place might bring back... memories."
Cal nodded his head, saying, "Yeah, I'm fine. But, I think we're getting close to the tomb."
Boo? Bee boo trill? BD asked the question on both his and Y/n's mind.
"I noticed it earlier, this feeling in the pit of my stomach. At first I thought it was Greez's cooking." Cal's attempt at a joke to lighten the mood made her and BD laugh, the droid saying, Bee! Continuing, Cal said, "Now it's getting even stronger. I think the closer we are, the worse I feel."
Boo be-boop bee? BD asked.
"It can't mean anything good."
"Let's try not to call the mission a failure before we even get to where we need to go," Y/n said with a breathy voice. The tone made Cal crack a laugh, which Y/n thought was a win in her book. If it made Cal feel more comfortable, it needed to be done.
The deeper the three of them went into the base, the harder it was to not call it a day. Cal wanted nothing more than to stop and rest, the twist in his stomach only getting worse. He was luckily able to upgrade BD to climb up ziplines, but even so. There was an itch in his mind that he couldn't scratch, and his discomfort was obviously starting to worry Y/n.
"Y/n, what do you think would happen if you never got found by Cere and Greez?" Cal asked suddenly, making Y/n raise her eyebrow. He shrugged lightly, and sheepishly said, "Just trying to distract myself."
She understood. The tomb was starting to get to her too. "Well, I'd probably either still be patching together mindless meat-heads on Coruscant, or I'd be found by my mother and working for the Empire by force. So, either way, I think I'd still be on Coruscant," she said smoothly while stepping into an elevator. "Just the idea of staying on Coruscant is enough for me to be grateful they found me."
"Agreed," Cal sighed, hands on his hips. "I'd still be piecing apart ships on Bracca, paying an arm and a leg for food."
"Lucky for the both of us, fate intervened," Y/n stated, elbowing his side in good nature. "Well, either fate or a careless duo."
The two of them shared a laugh at her words, feeling the elevator come to a slow stop. Cal completely forgot about the dark hole in his gut when he looked at her. When he talked with her. It was like a sense of ease came over his being whenever he was with her, and he unwillingly opened himself up to everything with her. The elevator door opened in front of them, and they went to step out as they smiled at each other, until Y/n's eyes went wide. She grasped her neck, clawing at some invisible force. He could hear her panting, trying to take breaths in small bursts, but nothing came. Cal panicked at the sight of her struggling to breathe all of a sudden until that familiar, bone-chilling voice spoke in front of him.
"Cal Kestis."